Lobo's Tale
by Pmp2a-Trish
Summary: Heyes is in jail and only Lobo can save him, but something from his past is keeping him following through with Kid's plan. Author's Note: Just a short ficlit. Not very exciting, just one of my little ideas about a member of the gang.


**Lobo's Tale**

By Trish

The past few days had been a nightmare of epic proportions. The gang had held up a train outside of Piedmont. The safe was easy to get into, but they hadn't counted on a mess of sheriffs being on board headed to a conference in Cheyenne. Against Kid's better judgment, they ordered the men tied up and continued with the robbery. Just as they made their way to leave, one of the men freed himself from his bindings and overpowered Heyes. Already on their horses, the rest of the gang ran, knowing full well they wouldn't do no good sitting in the cell next to their leader.

Now, with Heyes in jail and all but their lookout, Lobo, being seen by the sheriffs, their options were few. Well, to be technical, Kid thought, they had two options. Either let Heyes go to prison, which he didn't really consider an acceptable option, or have Lobo go into town to break him out.

Kid thought out a plan and had it ready when he brought Lobo in the leader's cabin. He even drew up diagrams, just as Heyes would do it. He felt confident that it was just a matter of setting things in motion. What he hadn't planned on was Lobo's stark refusal to participate.

"Heyes needs you."

"Kid, I want to help. I do. You want me to hold a gun on the Sheriff, I can do that. You want me to take a bullet, fine. But I can't walk in there acting all respectable-like."

"Why not?"

"I just can't."

Lobo went to walk out the door when he heard the scrape against leather and the hammer being pulled back. "Lobo, you ain't walkin' out that door until I get an answer." He recognized the change in Kid's voice. It was lower and slower. As he turned back around, he saw the steely blue eyes, the danger that sat just on the other side.

"You ain't never killed anyone and you certainly never shot one of us." Lobo dared.

"There's a first time for everything."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Lobo walked to the chair in the corner and sat, holding his head in his hands. "Kid, I've been in this gang for two years now. You know my loyalty is to you and Heyes. But what you're asking…."

Kid holstered his weapon and moved to the chair opposite the other man. "I'm just asking you to put on a high falutin suit and pretend to be a lawyer."

"My pa was a lawyer." Lobo looked up, instead of a hardened outlaw, Kid suddenly saw the eyes of a lost child; a child who witnessed a tragedy, a child scarred by nightmares of his past. A child that closely resembled the one he still occasionally saw when he looked into a mirror.

"What happened?"

"You want to kick me out of the gang, fine. Shoot me? Go ahead. You have my answer." Lobo stood and walked out the door.

Kid just watched as one of the Hole's best men walked away. Leaning back in the chair, he just couldn't understand it. Lobo had been a part of the gang for the better part of two years, one of the most trusted and capable men; always ready to do as told and never one to balk at any given order. But now when Heyes needed him the most, when the gang needed him the most, he was just walking away.

Kid hated that Heyes wasn't there; he would know exactly what to say. But he wasn't there, he was in jail and that was exactly why he needed Lobo. Closing his eyes, he leaned back, desperately trying to come up with another idea.

"I tell ya Kid, there ain't no way to get Heyes out, his goose is cooked." From outside the open door, Kid heard Wheat and Kyle approach.

Without opening his eyes, he kept it simple, "Wheat."

Wheat shrugged, "I'm just sayin' Kid. Those sheriffs can pick out you, me or any one of the boys. Without goin' guns ablazin…"

"We're not doing that."

"Well, that's what I mean."

"Wheat, if you don't have anything helpful to add, if you wouldn't mind giving me some time to think." Kid sat up and stared at the defiant outlaw and with a single look Wheat just turned and with Kyle on his heels, made his way back out.

Staring out the open door, Kid thought back to the first few days Lobo was in the gang.

He and Heyes had just gained leadership after Big Jim went to prison. The transition was fairly smooth, only Wheat attempted a run at Heyes' second in command. But after an extremely short challenge at the fast draw, it was a unanimous decision; Kid took the role, while Wheat cleaned up the shattered bottle. It was newcomer Lobo that had suggested the duel, stating that with Heyes doing the thinking, it only made sense that the fastest gun take second bandit. From that moment on, Kid knew Lobo not only understood the inner workings of a successful gang, but could understand the bigger picture, as Heyes would put it, sometimes a fella had to take a step back so that everyone came out ahead; an idea that Wheat often had trouble comprehending.

From that day on, Lobo just sat back, doing his part, never trying to creep into someone else's role. But every now and again, he would offer up suggestions, subtle remarks that would improve upon their plans; never anything obvious, just a question, or observation, just enough to give Heyes a different point of view. More times than not, Heyes would then alter his plans, just enough to ensure success.

Heyes once even commented about Lobo's wit, asking his partner, "You ever get the feeling there's more to Lobo than he lets on?"

"Why?"

"I caught him reading."

"So, you read."

"He's the only one of the boys I've seen with a book. Just doesn't add up."

"Gettin' nervous he might take your job?"

Heyes shot him a dirty look. "I was thinking he could take yours."

* * *

As the sun started to set, Kid found Lobo sitting outside camp overlooking the valley. With barely an acknowledgment of his presence, he continued to stare out.

After a moment of silence, Lobo glanced back, "If you want me to pack my bags, just say it."

"I don't want you leavin'." Sitting beside him, he crossed his legs and leaned back against a tree, looking out at the same sight. "Did Heyes and me ever tell you what happened to our folks?"

Lobo let out a heavy sigh. "Guessin' they died in Lincoln's war too?"

"They were killed during a raid by the Union Army. Heyes is the one that found them."

"Damn Yanks."

"You could say that. After they died, we were sent to an orphanage. Lobo, half the boys in this gang lost someone during the war. The other half will lie and say they didn't." He paused, "What happened?"

He took a deep breath. "My folks owned a plantation; one of the big ones. When the fighting started, my pa joined up. Said he'd be damned before a yank told him how to run his life. He was killed at Shiloh hill. My ma, she was a real proper lady. Kept us in fancy suits, always had us sayin' ma'am and sir. After the war ended, we lost everything, but ma still had us dressin' the part. Even after they took the house and we were livin' at the church, we were still playing rich. That is, until she stole into the doctor's house. That night, I watched her give my sisters some medicine; she said it would help them sleep. She didn't have enough for me, so she finished it off." He took in a ragged breath, "I didn't think no different, not till I woke up the next morning. The doc told everyone they had come down with an acute case of lung fever, guess he was too scared people would think he had somethin' to do with it. After the town buried them, in all their high falutin glory, they tried to send me to a home, so I ran."

"How old were you?"

"Twelve."

Kid sat silent, never would he have guessed. Then, he never took much time to find out the histories of his men. He just didn't have the heart to find out how much that damned war hurt so many young folk. Everyone always talked about the thousands of men that went valiantly to their graves on the battlefield, yet they always remained silent about the ones they left behind.

"Lobo, this gang needs Heyes and Heyes needs you. If you can come up with a better plan to get him out…"

"Kid, I ain't gonna play rich." He paused for a moment, "But I am pretty good at playing drunk."

He looked up and smiled and in that moment Kid knew that Heyes wasn't the only one in the gang that could come up with a workable plan.

* * *

Kid smiled as he saw Heyes and Lobo riding out of Piedmont.

The plan went off without a hitch. Lobo went into the bar, had a couple of drinks and then made a scene. After falling into a few poker tables and spilling its contents on the floor, the Sheriff arrived. With only the gun in his holster being taken, he was thrown in jail. When the sun went down and the Sheriff went home, Lobo made his move against the Deputy. Within moments, the Deputy was tied up and the two outlaws were on their horses and hightailed it out of town.

As they made their way back to Devil's Hole, Heyes remarked, "Ya know Kid, we might have to remember this little trick, in case we ever need to use it again."


End file.
